National Grid's David Bombard with the long-eared owl that he rescued off Gates Street in Palmer on Tuesday.Photo courtesy Officer Sean Ford

Here is the long-eared owl that was rescued on Tuesday on Gates Street. It was hung up on fishing line and suspended between two trees.Photo courtesy Officer Sean Ford

A long-eared owl that was rescued in Palmer.Photo courtesy Officer Sean Ford

PALMER — A National Grid linesman rescued a long-eared owl that was hanging upside down, caught in fishing wire between two trees, on Tuesday morning on Gates Street.

Officer Sean M. Ford said the homeowner at 285 Gates St. called police around 8 a.m. after her child spotted the hanging owl while waiting for the school bus.

Ford said the owl was 45 feet in the air, so police called National Grid for assistance.

Enter National Grid's David Bombard, who went up in a bucket loader to catch the owl in a net and cut the wire. Ford thinks the owl got caught in the fishing line at nearby Forest Lake, then got stuck in the trees as it was flying.

"It was hung up by one wing," Ford said.

"You could see it was struggling," Detective Sgt. Scott E. Haley said.

The owl, nicknamed "Bumby" after Bombard, was brought by Animal Control Officer Wendy LeSage to Monson Small Animal Clinic, where the rest of the fishing line was cut off. Ford said the veterinarian reported that the owl was OK to release back in the wild, so it was brought back to the same area, on Forest Lake Road.

"We couldn't have done anything without Bombard and the help of the National Grid," Ford said.